Each year, the Smithsonian honors Hispanic Heritage Month with a calendar full of activities. Visit the Hispanic Heritage Month website each September 15 - October 15 for more information on the events in the Washington, DC area and across the country.Hispanic Heritage Month Calendar

The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service is offering a set of free bilingual teaching posters to accompany the exhibition Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942–1964, which tells a story of the migrant farm worker experience. Downloadable Posters and Other Resources

In this set of four lessons, students are introduced to the Carnival of Puerto Rico and the masks worn by the revelers. The youngest students build their vocabulary by describing the masks. Older students do research on similar Carnival celebrations around the U.S.Carnival Celebrations: Masks

Students discover the Spanish and Mexican roots of American cowboy culture in this set of four lessons. The youngest students look for the Spanish origins of cowboy words (lasso from lazo, for example). Older students do a bit of translation work: they compose a rhyming cowboy ballad based on a Mexican corrido.From Vaquero to Cowboy

Students examine the work of American painter Carmen Lomas Garza in this set of four lessons. The youngest students write a story based on a scene for Garza’s childhood. Older students consider the role that culture plays in our lives.Latino Family Stories

In this set of four lessons, students see how the weaving traditions of the southwestern states and northern Mexico reflect the sharing of ideas across boundaries. The youngest students make “finger-puppet ponchos.” Older students write an essay on what the traditions tell us about community and cultural identity.Textiles of the North American Southwest

The Smithsonian Latino Center celebrates Latino culture, spirit, and achievement in America. By facilitating the development of exhibitions, research, collections, and educational programs at the Smithsonian and its affiliated organizations, the Center turns a powerful spotlight on Latino heritage and culture in our country.Smithsonian Latino Center

The National Postal Museum offers an online exhibit, Celebrating Hispanic Heritage: People, Places and Events on Stamps. The stamps commemorate more than five hundred years of history, beginning with Columbus’s voyages for Spain. The stamps themselves represent more than a hundred years of U.S. postal history. An 1893 stamp honoring Queen Isabella, for instance, is the first on which a portrait of a woman appears.Celebrating Hispanic Heritage: People, Places and Events on Stamps

This interactive exhibition features a mural that celebrates the many strands of Latin music across the Americas. Click on any area of the mural to hear the music and to meet the musicians. In English and Spanish. Created by Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Música del Pueblo

The National Museum of American History illustrates the history of the Mexican presence in the United States with this online “object group.” The 35 pieces range from pre-Hispanic artifacts to contemporary artworks. The site includes a bilingual narrative, a glossary, and a bibliography.Mexican America

If you’re interested in that broadest of all musical categories, “world music,” you won’t find a better site than Smithsonian Folkways, with a catalog of more than 40,000 songs. Albums and individual songs are available for purchase and download. For Hispanic Heritage Month, Smithsonian Folkways offers free music and videos from Latin American and from Hispanic communities in the U.S. A student activity is included.Heritage Month on Smithsonian Folkways

Powerful, provocative, and contemplative, the Latino artists featured on this website speak through their artworks. Each work expresses the rich and varied experience of being Latino in the United States.
¡del Corazón! Latino Voices in American Art goes behind-the-scenes and uses photographs, videos, and other resources to reveal the artists and their works.¡del Corazón! Latino Voices in American Art

This website reveals Mexico's indigenous people through the lens of Mexican photographer Manuel Carrillo. Activities ask students to be critical about how photography tells stories and represents people.Manuel Carrillo Educational Activities

Students learn from inspirational stories and portraits of diverse Latino men and women who have lived extraordinary lives and made significant contributions to life in the United States. The guide helps students to imagine the future and think about the people they can inspire. Guide

The lessons presented here encourage educators and their students to examine the multiple layers of activity and artistry that are a part of the Lienzo and the practice of Charrería. The activities can easily be adapted to to meet the needs of a range of students' abilities.
Educational Activities

This exhibition creates awareness of the socio-economic conditions in which elderly Latinos in two urban communities live and celebrate their heritage and culture. Activities allow students to create a history of their own community through the perspective of its elders.Inside/Out Educational Activites

This multidimensional presentation highlights how Latinos transformed their cars, with humor, a sense of history and identity, and mechanical prowess, into popular art. Includes language arts, social studies, physics and math activities. Lowrider Educational Activities

This website is designed to provide activities that encourage middle school-aged students to explore the life of famed baseball player and humanitarian Roberto Clemente. Students experience history, visual arts, drama, and language arts through exercises that spark their own creativity and curiosity. Further, lessons are included that celebrate the rich culture of Puerto Rico.Beyond Baseball: The Life of Roberto Clemente

Students can use the Try It! activities on this page to learn more about the carnival traditions of Puerto Rico. They can explore the history of the Ponce Carnival, participate in hands-on activities such as creating a Carnival mask at home, and learn how to become a collector.A Puerto Rican Carnival

The site features downloadable enrichment materials for the advanced English as a second language (ESL) classroom. Students use letters to build language and communication skills and create an exhibition of letters.Letters from Home